A Pair of Hearts
by socks-lost
Summary: Casey's proposal brings a lot of things to the surface for Jane. Things she'd never thought about before. What does she want? How does she want it? Everything she thought she knew suddenly gets dismantled by that single yes or no question. Spoilers for season 4, takes place after summer finale. Slow build/burn to Rizzles.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This story became a thing because of a long discussion on tumblr back in December.

Will be a multi-chapter story. I'm aiming for around 15 total, give or take. And slow build to traditionally romantic Rizzles. I used that phrasing for a reason! Story is also about what words mean, self-discovery, expectations, etc. and it's going to have a lot of Maura in there too, even if the summary makes it seems like 100% Jane. Hope y'all will come along for the ride!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own these characters, not making money, just playing around with them in my head.

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The street lamp ahead of her flickered ominously and on this particular night Jane couldn't help but feel like it was a sign from above, warning her of impending change. The detective sat parked just outside of her apartment. It was that time of night when the pitch black sky was beginning to splinter into navy and gray, blurring the edges of early morning. And she'd been up entirely too long.

The road was empty but lights were beginning to spring to life throughout the building. Silhouettes of bodies appeared through windows and she was afraid someone would call the police about a 'suspicious person' if she stayed in the front seat for much longer. (And wouldn't _that _be an embarrassing story to tell.)

Her late night had nothing to do with family or staying up too late watching movies with her best friend. It didn't even have anything to do with working hard to solve a homicide. No, the cause of her insomnia was a man and a question she didn't know how to answer.

Casey – the man she claimed to love – was waiting inside of her condo. He was going back to Afghanistan in four hours. And she couldn't will herself out of her damn car. She couldn't walk through her own front door.

She was held hostage by indecision. It was an ultimatum she wasn't prepared for, and she was no closer to an answer now than she was at the start. But no amount of internal pep-talks could make her open the door and step out of the vehicle.

She held the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip, like the last bit of her sanity rested in the worn leather.

After the arrest and before visiting the retirement center he sprung it on her. Casey had a surprise waiting for her when she got out of interrogation. He should've known she didn't like surprises, that she wouldn't want to leave work, but with one look into his twinkling blue eyes and crooked smile she caved almost instantly. After all, he'd been so understanding about her working while he was in town. He had even volunteered on his short leave to help them close the case. Going for a late lunch was the least she could've done.

Even though he caught her by surprise it was nice to just be with him. No strings. No grievances. No hard questions.

It was just the two of them walking hand in hand through the park, a moment of normalcy in an otherwise bizarre week. And she liked it. Being with Casey was easy, and she deserved at least _one _easy thing in her life.

The sun was out, birds were chirping – it was a gorgeous day. Even so, there was still a voice – a small one – in the back of her head telling her otherwise, telling her to back out. The longer they walked, the longer his hand stayed in hers, the louder that voice became.

She regretted his decision to eat outside after ten minutes of being in the humidity. His hand was sweaty, but she couldn't let go. And he was wearing entirely too much cologne. Now, all she could think about were the shredded wheat boxes in the trash and her clean underwear. But, if her biggest complaint was that he willingly did her laundry and cleaned her apartment, how bad did she actually have it?

She tried to ignore that voice, even as it grew louder.

She always did this.

She could find fault with almost anyone given the proper amount of time. It was self-sabotage at its finest. If there was a way to ruin a relationship, she could find it. In fact, the universe would make damn sure she found it and made it happen. She could make the most uncomplicated things complicated. It was a special talent.

She didn't notice that he stopped walking until he pulled her to his chest. He smiled and gave her a quick kiss before stepping away and setting things up. Jane watched as he fiddled with the basket he'd been carrying.

The flaming feelings she had when he first arrived were only just barely a smolder now. Trying to keep up with him was tiring. He was trying to be romantic with his picnic and lunch, but all she could think about were the thousand other things she could've been doing at that particular moment.

She needed to check in with Korsak about the home for Patrick Doyle Sr. Since they closed that case, there was all that paperwork. She rolled her neck to the side, chastising herself for her thoughts. He was leaving in the morning, back to a place thousands of miles away and wouldn't come back for who knew how long. _Just be happy, _she thought, _just be happy._

He dug out a checkered blanket from the basket he'd been carrying and spread it across the earth. A few minutes later they sat across from each other. Idle chit-chat swung back and forth between them, but Jane knew there was something bigger at play here. Something dangerous.

After a moment, she watched him take out a champagne bottle and two plastic glasses from the basket. The moment suddenly felt grander than it should have. Champagne was for celebrating. Her detective brain wouldn't shut off. Something wasn't right.

Casey turned towards her. He smiled in the same way that used to make her weak-kneed in crowded high school hallways. He took a deep breath, nodded once like he was sure. "I want to get married."

Jane blinked. "Oh." It was a breath of a sound that could have meant a thousand different things but mostly meant just _run._ But there was a ring in her palm and, "what?"

He chuckled softly. "Will you marry me?"

Her heart was having trouble beating but not in the way she expected. "I…" All she could focus on was the ring. She knew she should've said yes. She should've fallen into his arms, tears streaming down her face – the happy kind. But all she could see was a silver band around her finger that may as well have been a noose around her neck.

She wasn't ready.

She was…she never did her laundry and kept food _way _past its expiration date. She didn't cook. She was never home. She worked too hard and too much and too long. Hell, she was bragging about how much vacation time she had saved up – like it was a good thing. Why would he want to marry her? She was awful. She couldn't even call him her boyfriend, and he wanted to make the leap to husband?

"I know it's sudden." Blue eyes darted anywhere but Jane's face. "But we could make it work. I'll stay here in Boston. I'll leave the army. We could start a family." He swallowed hard. "Just – just think on it."

Jane was having difficulty breathing. All she could picture was a big white dress in a stuffy church. She could see her future unfold in the brightness of the diamond as if it were a crystal ball – kids, a house in town, a picket fence, play dates and diapers. That was the dream, wasn't it? Marriage and love and kids – that was the big picture.

But it wasn't hers.

She knew that her whole life. The marriage thing, the kids, the brownstone – none of it was on her priority list. It was always work – police officer, then detective, sergeant someday, maybe even lieutenant. And no matter how hard she looked through whatever telephoto lens she couldn't see that life within the diamond ring in her palm. No matter how bad she wanted to want it. "Case –" But just as she was about to speak her phone rang. It was Korsak, and of course she answered it.

She'd been avoiding Casey ever since returning from the retirement center and the ring in her pocket felt like a weight on her back.

At quitting time she'd declined drinks with the guys even though experience said she'd wish she'd gone with them, if only for the blackmail purposes. She knew after the week they'd had, the odd case, and all of the little things that no one ever talked about – they would drink too much and one would yell to the crowd the _next one's on me_. Korsak would beat Frost in a game of pool and darts, and then usually she would be next. But it was around the third or fourth round that the old man decided to play Dr. Phil. He was always able to expose her and Jane did not need that tonight. She didn't need liquor either to do whatever she had to do. She'd convinced herself, however weakly, she could do this sober.

And Maura? Jane knew Maura wasn't with the guys. She hardly ever went when Jane didn't. The detective hadn't spoken to her best friend since her terse _see you later _after the awkward car ride back from the retirement center. But she'd put her next paycheck on the line that the doctor was resting, enjoying a glass of red, and the solitude of her home.

More than anything Jane wanted to be on the opposite end of that sofa trying to make her friend laugh. She wanted to fix whatever damage her crotchety 'grandfather' had done. Something visceral and loud and heated deep inside her gut was pulling her to that house. She'd been ignoring it all night.

If Korsak exposed her, Maura was the doctor that came in afterwards to poke at all of her soft spots. She could read her like a children's book. She was all three letter words and simple sentences, and Maura would see straight through her, call her out on every lie she'd told herself to get through the day, to get to this point.

Jane knew the second she let that voice creep into her head, the second she told Maura _I can't be me, and be his too _that it would be the beginning of the end. Being a detective had taught her that once the truth was uncovered, there was no going back. It brought to life a fear: did she really want this? And she knew better than to ask that question, knew she wouldn't like the answer. She didn't know why she was fighting tooth and nail for this thing – this one easy thing – to work. But here she was. And it was all slipping through her fingers like sand.

She waited in the bullpen for as long as she could. The cold cases on her desk weren't getting any warmer. Her paperwork was complete. She was just wasting time, just hiding.

And the point of hiding was not being found, but daylight would break eventually and what then?

Just a day ago Casey sat across from her at the Robber. He said he was right where he wanted to be – in line to be a general. Jane wasn't stupid. She knew how hard it was to move up in rank. She knew he worked his whole life for this. How could he be so cavalier about giving it up? When he mentioned settling down together she thought it was just in hypothetical terms, a 'somewhere down the road' scenario.

Everything around her told her to say yes. This was the man she had been dating for months now. Marriage was the next logical step in the equation, but it never even occurred to her that he would ask. And she wanted to want it. She wanted to want this path.

But she didn't.

The thought of marrying him – marrying _anyone – _sent her into an instant panic. The kind that made her lose her mind to irrationality. It made her hands shake and her blood pressure rise. She could think of nothing but exit plans and escape routes.

Growing up, the steadiest marriage she had to look up to was her parents'. In the long run, it didn't turn out to be the best example. They were together long enough for three grown kids, long enough to know every tick, every bad habit the other had. They fell out of love or maybe their love just wasn't enough. Either way they were a lesson, a hard one. Cracks in the foundation needed to be fixed early. Otherwise, the whole thing would come crashing down like a house of cards. And she was left homeless, standing in the wreckage of the house that built her. She was _still_ trying to get all of the pieces back together.

And then there was Korsak with his three ex-wives who spent all of his time either at work, the Robber, or with his animals. Everywhere she looked her co-workers were getting separated or divorced.

So why was he so eager to make that leap? What did he know that she didn't? How was he so sure of this, of them, that he was willing to gamble away his life-plan?

He was a risk taker and she, although professionally toed that line, was not.

So what were her options here? If she said yes, what would happen then?

The fairytales her mother told her always dropped off at that point. What happened after the big kiss? (Taxes?) Did he want kids? Did she? If he was sacrificing his career for them, would she be expected to do the same? Would she have to change her last name? Move out of her condo? Get joint checking accounts? Was that all part of 'happily ever after'?

Jane knew those weren't the right questions.

She should've been enthralled by the idea of marrying him. She should've been fantasizing about the dress she was going to wear, what her cake was going to look like, whom to invite. She should've been inside her apartment, next to her fiancé, happy and in love calling everyone she knew about the good news.

But instead it was four am and she was sitting in her cold car on her empty street. She wanted nothing more than to turn the key and drive. _Run, _her mind told her one more time, _run and don't look back. _

Jane rolled her eyes at herself and gripped the wheel impossibly tighter.

As a kid she lived in a world of make-believe where, when her mother wasn't looking, her pink canopy bed was a pirate ship and she was the captain.

She was never interested in her mother's stories.

They spoke of nothing but handsome princes and beautiful princesses. They always fell madly in love. They always found each other. Everything always worked out. More often than not Jane wondered how her mother could tell her those tales when she overheard her parents yelling at each other most nights.

And maybe it was the missing authenticity in the words or how boring she found love to be, but Jane was always more interested in the thrilling heroics rather than the love story.

_How did he slay the dragon, Ma? _She would ask excitedly. _Did he have any help? Did the princess help? _She wanted to know everything. What did his sword look like? How fast did his noble steed gallop? Did the dragon breathe fire? How did he survive? Each question became increasingly more excited than the last, until she was kneeling on her bed wide-eyed with a toothless grin on full display.

Her mother was always patient with her.

Angela did her best to placate her daughter, her best to answer the questions. But just as Jane's eyes began to droop, there were others, ones that never got answers. _Why did she need the prince to save her all the time? Do I have to be a princess? I think Tommy's a princess. Was Pop your prince, Ma?_

She was supposed to grow out of that.

She was supposed to grow out of her ball caps and overalls into dresses and ruffles. She would grow out of wanting to be a cop. Her dad would have to beat all the boys away with a stick.

Every family reunion, every holiday, every time an aunt looked her scrawny frame (after that growth spurt in high school) up and down she was told _oh, you'll grow out of that, trust me. _And they would laugh like it was a game. Their voices full of condescension and faces full of saccharine smiles, eyes that knew more than she ever would.

But that wasn't the case. Jeans and t-shirts remained her preferred attire. She never stopped wanting to be a cop. And the only boy she ever had a major crush on was a senior who didn't know she existed until he was about to graduate.

That same guy – the funny, handsome guy with the adorable accent – was in her apartment wanting to marry her.

But this wasn't a fairytale. She wasn't a princess, and he wasn't her prince. She didn't need saving, and he was twenty years too late.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Don't own. No money. ETC.

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The cadence of Jane's footsteps echoed off of the walls as she made her way up to her apartment. There was something deep inside her bones that left her fingers trembling against the rail along the wall. It felt like she was going to explode from the inside out, like she was on the cusp of something she couldn't name. She didn't understand how all of this could stem from one yes or no question.

This was big.

She tried not to think of the warzone Casey would travel back to, tried not to think of what her mother was going to say when she found out. This wasn't about them. This was about her.

The butt of her gun rubbed against her elbow as she found her apartment key. A shaky breath eased passed dry lips.

It shouldn't feel like this.

The weight in her stomach shouldn't have been there. That feeling in the base of her ear, in the recesses of her bones – it shouldn't have been there. But it was. Even if she couldn't decide why or how at this moment, it was there, and not listening to her gut had gotten her into a lot of terrible situations. She couldn't risk it again.

Even so, she didn't know what she would find on the other side of the door, if anything. Perhaps Casey had left, or was in his own apartment getting sleep. With one last steadying breath of courage she slipped her key into the lock and turned.

…

The sheets fell to the floor of Maura's bedroom in a fit of aggravated tossing and turning. The medical examiner had been plagued with unbearable restlessness all night. The half a bottle of wine with dinner did not help as she hoped, nor did any amount of practiced breathing or meditation.

A heavy sigh escaped her. She threw her forearm over her eyes and suppressed a groan. She was annoyed with herself more than anything. Her mind was playing tricks on her turning every blink into a memory, into a slideshow of mistakes and missed cues. This wasn't like her – she never had trouble sleeping.

All she could think about was her best friend and a looming wedding.

…

Casey was sitting on the couch, elbows resting on knees, eyes staring at the corner of the coffee table. It was clear that he'd been there for a while, like he too had been thinking about this for too long and too hard. He didn't move as Jane walked in. If he was curious about where she'd been he didn't show it.

Jane fell back against the closed door. She wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him she tried to make it work, she really did, but there was something wrong with her, something she couldn't put a name to that followed her to every relationship she tried to have. And she just couldn't find the missing piece that would bring it all together, no matter how hard she looked.

The irony of this was not lost on her. How unfair was it that she was the one forced to drop the match he lit on what was left of their relationship. She had worked so hard to get here. She'd given up so much. And for what? For this? Just to watch it burn into a pile of ash?

But the words didn't come.

Instead, the silence pressed against the couch cushions and permeated the air. Less than twenty feet separated them, but there may as well have been an entire ocean three thousand miles there.

…

Maura paced back and forth from the kitchen to her living room. Her hands couldn't keep still, alternating between toying with the pendant around her neck to twisting the ring around her finger until her wrist grew tired from the motion.

Bass could not be bothered with his human any longer. He'd given up trying to track her movements with his eyes, and instead turned his back towards her. His head was tucked safely into his shell as he tried to ignore the sound of her shuffling feet across the floor.

Maura's foot hovered somewhere between tile and carpet. She worried her bottom lip.

She kept replaying the moment Jane told her of Casey's proposal over and over in her mind.

The other woman had told her in a way that Maura knew the soldier hadn't received his answer yet. That scared her. If Jane was thinking on it, then that meant she wasn't sure what her answer would be. It meant she might say yes.

It wasn't until now, after wine and a handful of hours of interrupted sleep did she realize Jane had told her because she'd been looking for guidance or reassurance, some kind of advice.

And what did she do?

She stood there.

She was too surprised, too stunned. The shock value alone that that man would even have the audacity to ask such a question left her fumbling for the right words. It was nearly five am and she was still at a loss.

Things were easier when it was just her and Bass. They were easier when she wasn't invested in someone else's life, when she didn't have a best friend to confide in or that would confide in her.

But they were lonelier.

The moniker she'd received was only enforced by her personality. Being cold and indifferent was her only means of protection, and Jane had broken it into pieces. She finally knew what it felt like to live, to belong. And she needed this. She needed something to attach to the world of living. She couldn't go back to silence and loneliness. She needed Jane, but she had a habit of needing people who didn't need her, of loving people who refused to love her back.

She feared that was where she was headed if Jane went through with this marriage proposal. And she knew it was selfish, she did. But that future wasn't improbable. She could imagine herself slipping further and further from Jane's life.

At first the shift would be subtle, but then the inevitable would happen. She would be relegated to the outskirts of Jane's life. The detective would be only available for birthdays and work chats, Sunday dinners and holidays. But even then, it wouldn't be the same. Everything would be different. Their relationship would irrevocably change.

That was what she'd been so afraid of to begin with. It was why she had kept her feelings hidden for so long. At least that way she was able to keep Jane in her life, she told herself that it was better that way. But this had caught her off guard, and she was left unbalanced by this twist of fate. Her head was spinning as she tried to think of every outcome.

But she knew she couldn't force herself into a Maid of Honor dress and stand at Jane's side as she pledged to stay with that man until death do them part. Not when she was aware of her own feelings.

Things had derailed for her ever since she met Jane.

The detective was all code and dead languages – a complex system of simple machines that Maura had worked so hard to decipher. She was constantly left stumbling, fumbling for reasons and logic when there weren't any to be found. Her eyes drifted to places they shouldn't while her brain pulled her in one direction and her heart sent her reeling into another.

This was one of those occasions.

Her mind used to be a place that was once nearly solely occupied with medical jargon and facts but now there was a special place just for Jane. She had a category of mental notes with headings and subheadings all with Jane's name on them.

She knew things that no one else – or very few – knew. Like that scar on her left elbow. It was the result of a double-dog-dare, and a leap of faith from a rooftop to a trampoline at a friend's house. The scar a product of not going to the emergency room to get stiches because she was afraid of what her parents would say. And as much as she liked to pretend otherwise, she knew Jane loved her mother. They played a game of complaints that she didn't exactly understand, but somehow it made the hard days okay.

Jane's favorite color was Red Sox Red, and she loved chocolate covered bacon and cheeseburgers. She drank too much coffee. Maura knew when something was bothering her, the jokes Jane spouted off, the sarcasm that dripped from her teeth took an edge meant to hurt because she was hurting. And when she became involved in a case, really involved, nothing would stop her. She wouldn't eat or sleep and it was Maura who took it upon her shoulders to bring her out of it.

And it all took her so long to learn, but she had always been a good student.

Maura knew – she knew on some level that Jane didn't want to marry Casey. But there was something in her eyes that Maura saw, something in her smile that told her Jane might actually say yes.

Maybe the brunette thought it was her only shot at that pinnacle goal of the brownstone in Boston and kids. Maybe she just didn't want to disappoint anyone. Or perhaps she fell into his trap and was only thinking of his well-being and not her own happiness. There were so many variables.

She wanted to march right over to Jane's place and tell her everything. But she wasn't good at this. She wasn't good at taking chances or just jumping in. There were risks. There were calculations. The world was full of consequences and how could she do anything if she didn't know all of the options? How could she speak up when she didn't know how it would end? She was a scientist and blind faith was not something she subscribed to.

But Maura hated the idea of Casey.

She hated everything that he was. How dare he blow into town like he was a gift? How dare he hold her best friend's feelings over her head? Treat her like a doormat?

Maura wanted to ask Casey if he knew about the scars on Jane's hands. She wanted to ask him if he treated that place on her side – the one that brought them together again in the first place – with the reverence it deserved. She wondered if he looked at her like she was the eighth wonder of the world, like he was a painter and she was his muse. Because _that _was the kind of love Jane deserved.

She deserved big gestures and small gestures. Not a…a booty call because he came back on leave. Jane didn't deserve being torn into pieces repeatedly because of him.

Maura knew what that felt like. She knew what it was like to fall in love with someone who was unavailable, someone who was doing the work of a hero – helping people, saving people, putting their life at risk for the cause. She knew the guilt that accompanied loving someone like that. How could she ever ask him to stay when he was saving the world? How could she ever be mad at him for choosing that over her?

And she also knew what it felt like to have someone ask for her hand in marriage. How it felt to have all of the walls pushing in from all directions until it felt like there wasn't a choice at all. But there was! And she wished she'd said that. She wished she'd taken Jane to the side and told her that it was okay to say no. It was okay to push back on what society deemed necessary. It was okay to feel however she was feeling in whatever degree. She didn't have to do this.

Maura sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

She had a genius level IQ – there were a lot of things she understood, but people had never been one of them.

But Jane wasn't just people. And here in the silence of her home she finally found the words she needed. Quickly, she grabbed her keys and rushed out of the door, hoping it wasn't too late to say her piece.

…

"You said we could start a family." Jane was the first to break the stillness. Her fingers played with the ring in the pocket of her blazer with her back still resting against the door. To her right she heard Jo Friday's tags jingling as the dog trotted from her bedroom towards her. She sniffed her feet, tail wagging lazily from side to side before settling on her doggie bed next to the couch. Eventually, Jane brought her eyes up from the docile creature and met Casey's steely gaze. "What if I don't want kids?"

"Of course you want kids." His voice was all wrong – superior and patronizing. She knew he didn't mean to be, he just was and all she could hear was _you'll grow out of it, _like she didn't know what she wanted. "Everyone wants kids, and if you don't you'll change your mind."

The muscles in her jaw worked as she gritted her teeth together. The diamond dug into her palm as she clenched her fist. "I'm thirty-seven."

He said nothing, and it was here in his silence that the pieces fell together. He would make a good husband for someone else, be a good father for someone else's kids. But something inside of her shifted in this moment.

What they had was like the romance they shared in high school. She had tried too hard to get his attention then too. They went in opposite directions with their lives in the end, just like she knew they were on the brink of doing now. She'd been fooling herself thinking that she could be that person again, that she could get those feelings back.

Their relationship had started up again, _again, _because of work – both of their work. She'd confronted him after a long, tiring day. She'd told him that she fell in love with him through their Skype chats. A part of her did, a part of her wanted to be with him despite everything, but they were made for different people.

It wasn't until now, standing in her own living room that she realized. They were both too headstrong, too independent. What was it he'd said when she told him about loving him? _I didn't come back for you. _He'd been in Boston for months. He had her still believing he was overseas. He used it as a guise to "protect" her, but really it was to shield himself from whatever perceived embarrassment he'd had – but it wasn't his place to dictate what was right for her.

She didn't need someone like that. She didn't need someone that would continually think he knew best. _You need someone to take care of you. _She almost wanted to scoff. How had she not seen this? How had the pieces not come together so clearly until now? Finally, she spoke up needing to know the truth, now more than ever. "If my case didn't involve seeing you at the veteran clinic, would you have ever told me?"

"What?" He asked in disbelief.

"Would you have ever told me that you were back in town? If people hadn't intervened and it was just about us, would you have ever told me about your injury? Or the surgery? Or that you were just a few minutes around the corner?"

He let out a resigned sigh drawing his lips into a thin line. When he looked back up at her there was nothing but truth in his eyes. She didn't need him to say it, she knew the answer.

"Okay." This was more than just her inability to commit. It was so, so much more. She could've been replaced with anyone else and it would've been the same to him. The walking in and out of her life, the underhanded comments, the lies – he just wanted someone that would depend on him, in ways only he saw fit. And she couldn't fit into that mold of his, not anymore, not without destroying everything that she was. She wasn't made that way. "We're all wrong, Casey." She said quietly, her voice nothing but a husky whisper. She took the ring from her pocket, eyeing the diamond and her future inside one more time. His eyes tracked her movement. She slid the ring onto her finger, just to see how it looked, just to see how it would feel.

But it didn't even fit past her second knuckle.

"We can get it resized." Casey rushed to say as he stood.

Jane shook her head laughing hollowly at his comment. If that wasn't the crux of the issue – she was tired of being resized for him. She was tired of being the one to bend. It was her kitchen he rearranged. It was her life he walked in and out of. She was emotionally exhausted from being on the end of his leash. She felt played, used.

When she looked into his eyes she didn't feel like that giddy sixteen year old girl anymore. She nodded her head for reassurance, took a moment to breathe before stepping forward. Her legs were unsteady as she bit her bottom lip. Sometimes doing the brave thing, the right thing, came with consequences and she was feeling every second of it right at this moment.

"I can't…" She started before trailing off. She was never any good at saying goodbye. Her eyes fell to the floor. Jo Friday looked at her, head tilted to the side in confusion. Jane looked at the ring one last time before shaking her head. She grabbed his hand placing it in his palm. "I can't marry you, Casey. I'm sorry."

He closed his fist around the ring, breathing through his nose heavily. "I guess this is it then?"

Jane wrapped her arms around herself, as she nodded her head. "I guess so."

"Alright then." He went back to the couch and grabbed his already packed duffle bag, like he knew what her choice would be. Jane stepped away from the door. Before reaching for the knob he turned towards Jane, giving her a somber smile. "Take care of yourself."

"You too, Casey, be careful out there."

He made a move like he was going to hug her but thought better of it. Instead, he sent an awkward half-wave in her direction and opened the door.

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**A/N: **Can I just say how amazing y'all are? Because y'all are great! (And I'm so sorry for the late update!)

Thanks for reading! :]


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